It
was an honor and a privilege to witness this young lady as she read so
beautifully from the Torah and as she led the congregation in prayers. Because of all of the
effort she
invested in studying and in learning, and with the support and
encouragement of
her family, her Hebrew was perfection, her chanting was captivating,
and her
interpretation of her Torah portion left me awe-struck.
What
was also particularly striking was when her father was called to the
pulpit to
give the Parents Blessing.
Although he had lovingly prepared words from his heart and
he had
practiced what he would say beforehand many times, in that moment, as
he spoke
to his daughter before the congregation, he found the words difficult
to relay. The love
and dedication he felt for his
little girl who was now a Bat Mitzvah, somehow made those words he had
so
lovingly intended to say, not come from his throat so easily. But what did were the
tears that
unashamedly poured from his heart and through his eyes and down his
face. Those tears
conveyed how proud he was
of his daughter, how proud he was of this special moment, and how this
father
loves his child more than words will ever be able to convey. There are moments when
only tears can
speak what is in a fatherÕs heart.
His daughter is a beautiful, intelligent, gifted and
amazing young woman
who will excel throughout school and in college and who will continue
to
contribute greatly in this world.
And I am honored to have witnessed this precious stage of
accomplishment
in her life.
I
thought back to another time and another father and child.
It
was at a park where I noticed a dad and his son, who was about 11 or 12
years
old. His son wasn't
able to
communicate with the world, but he seemed content to sit in the sand
and to let
it fall through his fingers over and over again.
The dad explained to me that his son never spoke but he
did
make some sounds.
The
boy had been in speech and occupational therapy for many years and he
worked very
hard for the therapists. After
so
much time in therapy, the boy was actually able to maintain eye contact
for a
few secondsÉand the father delighted as he talked about that
achievement! He
told me how expensive the therapies
had been and about the sacrifices the family had made just to get the
right
services that actually work for a child with non-typical needs. And what a pleasure it was
to see all
of the years of hard work pay off...a son was able to look his dad
right it the
eyes even for a few seconds before looking away again.
The father and son connected and those
few seconds of eye contact meant the world to that dad!
As
we talked for a little while longer about various therapies, the dad
shared
with me that his goal for his boy was to someday be able to go for ice
cream
together. He said
as a boy growing
up, his father used to take him out for ice cream and he has the best
memories
of that...he hopes to be able to share that same simple outing with his
child. As we were
both watching,
the son stopped putting his fingers in the sand, he looked right at his
father,
eyes connecting, and he said, "hi."
And seconds later the boy went back into his own world and
all of his
attention went back to the sand.
About
Author: Kelly
Jackson
is a single mom who lives in Tampa with her daughter, Holly. She works
full
time, she writes for inspiration, and she strives daily to be the best
person
and the best mother she can be.